All of you puzzle fans and brain trainers out there get ready, another Sudoku game is coming July 2007.  From Telegames the people who brought you Ultimate Card Games, Ultimate Brain Games, Ultimate Winter Games and Ultimate Arcade Games.

Ultimate Puzzle Games: Sudoku Edition will feature:

• Unlimited number of puzzles - virtually infinite number of puzzles, thanks to an internal algorithm that randomly generates puzzles.
• Four grid layouts: 9 by 9, 8 by 8, 6 by 6, and 4 by 4. Uses touch screen and stylus.
• Multiple difficulty selections, including sections for younger players.
• Use erasable pencil marks to help solve the puzzle…without tearing the newspaper!
• Select your choice of background from 10 cool images.
• Compare your best times to solve the puzzles with target solution times.
• On-screen “How to play” instructions and button actions.
• Save the puzzle status and other options for later.
• PC-style menus allow easy and intuitive configuration and navigation.
• Sudoku Solver - manually input any puzzle from any other source and solve the puzzle using your DS and UPG-SE.
• Wirelessly play all head-to-head modes with either one or two game cards.
• Game Share feature - wirelessly download the entire game to another DS for their independent play or for multi-player action. It’s even easier than sharing music files…and it’s FREE!

Additional information can at Telegames Website.

Look for Ultimate Puzzle Games: Sudoku Edition for Nintendo DS in July 2007 for the retail price of $19.99.

Via Press Release

So when was the last time you saw a game released on every gaming console, every hand held, even the PC and MAC that was not some cheap crappy movie based game?  Well best selling author Darren Reid is about to release a point and click fantasy adventure with MMO and RPG community elements to every next generation console, handhelds, PCs and Macs.  Darren with NextGenBooks.com today announced that they are brining an all new point and click fantasy adventure to PCs and consoles. Darren Reid’s The Half Broken Crown: The Broken Kingdoms is an all new game based upon the best selling author’s upcoming novel The Half Broken Crown. The game is a point and click style adventure which incorporates MMO elements which allow all online players to communicate and solve puzzles through collaboration and cooperation.

 “Of all my upcoming projects this is perhaps the one I am most excited about,” admitted Reid, “It is a unique opportunity for me to expand upon the [upcoming] book and to tell new stories.”

Look for The Broken Kingdoms this June and will be free to play with optional micro-transactions available to enhance the player’s experience. The main game will feature over 100 unique screens.  Additional in-game purchases will open up episodic content that add hours of game play will become available over the course of the year.  Each episode prices ranging from $2.50-$5.00, depending upon the depth of the content being purchased.

The game will be launched exclusively on www.NextGenBooks.com and be playable through internet web browsers with specific and individual versions designed for Wii, DS, PS3, PSP, PC and Mac. All console and computer versions of the game will be fully featured however the DS and PSP users will have to wait for multiplayer support.

If you want to learn more about the game pick one of the following ways check Darren’s MySpace Page, or Next Gen Books Website.
www.myspace.com/darrenreidcell
www.NextGenBooks.com

For more information about Darren Reid’s books The Half Broken Crown: The Broken Kingdoms visit www.DarrenReid.co.uk.

Today only Amazon.com are selling Nintendogs Dalmatian & Friends for the Nintendo Wii for $19.99, reduced from $29.99 with free shipping if you add another $5.01 to your cart

Nintendogs was one of the eary DS sellers which helped to show off what the system could do and what it was about. Sadly although the Nintendogs do behave quite realistically and are fun to play with, there just isn’t too much to do, which will leave you putting your cute puppy up for adoption within a week or so. If you have kids who love dogs however, you’ll find they’ll get a lot of joy from this Nintendo title

Today only Amazon.com are selling Component Cables for the Nintendo Wii for $14.99, reduced from $29.99 with free shipping if you add another $10.01 to your cart

Here’s something every Wii owner with a component capable TV should be getting, I had never ordered a set before as the $30 price tag seemed a little steep, now it’s $15 what’s your excuse?

Today only Amazon.com are selling Need for Speed Carbon for the Nintendo Wii for $24.99, reduced from $39.99 with free shipping if you add another $0.01 to your cart

Need for Speed Carbon has been released on just about every system known to man, so it was inevitable that a port would eventually surface. However the Wii doesn’t handle ports too well and although this is probably still the best racing game for the Wii, this defiantly isn’t the best version of Carbon. If you only have a Wii and need a racing fix, then this is worth collecting.

Ubisoft is set to release the sound track to Red Steel. Most of us remember Red Steel for the Nintendo Wii as being the second most anticipated title next to Ledgend of Zelda: Twilight Princess.

Didier Lord, Executive Director of Ubisoft Music said “We’re really happy to make this possible, especially with Tom’s spectacular work on Red Steel, It’s an important move as it will be Ubisoft’s first soundtrack released on major digital distribution channels – the first of many to come!” For all of you out there who do not speak PR quite as well let me translate. “We are constantly looking for more ways to suck cash out of your wallet.”

Most people who have played the game Red Steel can attest that Tom Salta did a spectacular job in composing the music. In fact the music is one of the only notable features of the game.

To ensure the authenticity of the game’s soundtrack, Salta arranged and recorded traditional live Japanese instrumentation such as Koto, Shamisen, Shakuhachi and Taiko performed by expert Japanese musicians including the specialist percussion group Taikoza. The score also features performances from conservatory-trained Japanese opera singers and renowned violinist Lili Haydn. In order to reflect the diverse and Western-influenced soundtrack of fashionable Tokyo, Salta further embellished the soundtrack with a wide spectrum of music styles – such as orchestral, electronic, rock, hip hop, dance, easy listening, jazz, lounge and Japanese pop – that truly embrace the game’s cinematic story and vibrant locations.

Tom Salta’s other video game credits include the original score for Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2, Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter. Mr. Salta is currently working on the follow-up to his highly acclaimed debut solo album, 2 Days or Die. For more information on Tom Salta visit his site .

Having played the game Red Steel I would encourage everyone to save some money. Forget the game and just grab the music.

Via Press Release

All of you puzzle fans and brain trainers out there get ready, another Sudoku game is coming July 2007. From Telegames the people who brought you Ultimate Card Games, Ultimate Brain Games, Ultimate Winter Games and Ultimate Arcade Games.

Ultimate Puzzle Games: Sudoku Edition will feature:

• Unlimited number of puzzles - virtually infinite number of puzzles, thanks to an internal algorithm that randomly generates puzzles.
• Four grid layouts: 9 by 9, 8 by 8, 6 by 6, and 4 by 4. Uses touch screen and stylus.
• Multiple difficulty selections, including sections for younger players.
• Use erasable pencil marks to help solve the puzzle…without tearing the newspaper!
• Select your choice of background from 10 cool images.
• Compare your best times to solve the puzzles with target solution times.
• On-screen “How to play” instructions and button actions.
• Save the puzzle status and other options for later.
• PC-style menus allow easy and intuitive configuration and navigation.
• Sudoku Solver - manually input any puzzle from any other source and solve the puzzle using your DS and UPG-SE.
• Wirelessly play all head-to-head modes with either one or two game cards.
• Game Share feature - wirelessly download the entire game to another DS for their independent play or for multi-player action. It’s even easier than sharing music files…and it’s FREE!

Additional information can at Telegames Website.

Look for Ultimate Puzzle Games: Sudoku Edition for Nintendo DS in July 2007 for the retail price of $19.99.

Via Press Release

The Pokémon series has had constant success since it was first released in Japan over 10 years ago in its four color glory on the classic Gameboy, with wikipedia boasting that the series has sold over 155 million units as of the end of 06 (before the US release of Diamond and Pearl). This is a pretty phenomenal achievement for a game that is viewed as a child’s game outside of Japan, even viewed alongside Mario’s whopping 193 million units shipped.

The Pokémon series has touched on many genres, but it’s always been an RPG at heart and the latest Diamond and Pearl games are no exception, the plot is really no more advanced from where the series originated so many years ago. You start you off as a kid in a small town, with no Pokémon or back history, you stumble onto a Pokémon or a Professor in the first 5 minutes of game play and set about becoming the top Pokémon trainer. Along the journey you’ll come across an evil gang, various other trainers and finish by defeating the gang and beating the Elite 4. Like I said this structure has never changed and as far as plot goes it’s like playing the same game over and over.

Pokémon Blue for the Nintendo Gameboy

The graphics in Pokémon are not going to win any awards, the main game view is pretty enough, the pseudo 3d effect of buildings looks good and everything moves along nicely. Sadly the Battles haven’t been given any real ‘animation’ the Pokémon themselves are great sprites, but the graphical effects of the battles are not that much more advanced than the old D&D games when you’ll just see a few frames of animation of a skeleton taking a swipe at you. I’m not saying the graphics are bad, but I still look forward to the day when the battles become a little more like the arena in the Pokémon battle games that appear on the consoles.

The little tunes you find while walking around and getting into battles are catchy and memorable, a lot of been enhanced from the classic games and are still great to listen to. Each Pokémon has a unique cry, the amusing thing about this is that the originals 150 Gameboy Pokémon still have their grainy distorted sounds like they were coming out of the GB speaker. I’m sure this is on purpose, but much like the graphics, I want a little more, A few samples from the TV series would be great, I’d love to hear my star Pokémon scream "SCYTHER!!!" as she runs into battle.

Pokémon Crystal for the Nintendo Gameboy Color

All of this sounds terribly negative, and those of you who haven’t played the game before must be wondering why this game is so popular if nothings changed in 10 years and things look outdated for the DS. I’d love to be able to summarize this in just a few words, but the series doesn’t need a great story, graphics and sound to be a good game, the sheer amount of things to do keep the game interesting, the main plot is only a very small part of what the Pokémon series has to offer. Besides the battles you can involve your captured Pokémon in contests, such as beauty contests where you’ll have to use the attacks your Pokémon has learnt to dazzle the audience and draw their attention. There are many things to collect in the game, besides the Pokémon themselves (of which there is now 493), you can collect stickers for your Pokéballs, new phrases to say, ribbons, furniture, Pokémon accessories and I’m probably forgetting about even more. Collecting all of any of these things is no easy task (epically the Pokémon themselves) so you could spend an inordinate amount of time just doing these crazy little tasks.

After all is said and done it all comes down to getting the best team of Pokémon and making them tough, this is where the complexity of the game really shows. If your Pokémon doesn’t know a move that you’ll like to teach it, you can collect one of the many TMs and use it on the Pokémon, or perhaps you can breed your Pokémon with one that does know the move, then train the offspring! Although the game features 467 different moves each of your Pokémon can only know 4 at any one time this can require a hell of a lot of planning if you plan on making a winning team. To raise your star Pokémon’s stats you can feed it poffins, to get these you have to plant and pick berries, then put them in a berry mixer, but you can only feed it so many, so even more planning is needed here. Even once you have a tough high level Pokémon with all the right moves, he’s not going to be successful without a full team backing him/her/it up. Only 6 Pokémon can be with you at one time and a good mix of Pokémon can make or break your whole team. Each move can be one of 17 types, so can the Pokémon, there’s a very elaborate rock-paper-sissors game at play here, so unless you have a good mix you’ll quickly fall to a more dynamic team.

Pokémon Emerald for the Nintendo Gameboy Advance

Finally one thing the new game does bring in is multi player, you can walk around together in the tunnels beneath the world and visit each others secret bases and play a capture the flag based game, this is only available locally DS to DS. The most important feature available here is the ability to trade and battle over Nintendo Wi-Fi, allowing you to upload your Pokémon onto the servers and await someone to trade with you. Using this you can easily trade with people all over the world, so there’s usually someone with what you are looking for. The battles however aren’t online, you’ll download someone’s uploaded team and then fight the team offline and upload the records. It would be nice to be able to battle over Wi-Fi in real time, but this a mode like this is more than welcome and offers a great challenge.

I’ve clocked 60-70 hours of game play so far, and I’m not about to stop yet, with so much left to do this is something that’s very easy to come back to and with Pokémon coming out for the Wii there’s even more reason to build up a good team. I’d recommend this to anyone who’s a fan of the previous games, or collection & RPGs in general, with the low price of DS games compared to the major consoles it really offers a lot of hours of enjoyment to your dollar

* Screenshots thanks to www.gamespot.com

Pokémon Pearl for the Nintendo DS

There is something for everyone coming over the next few months from Nintendo.  Whether you are a player who spent countless hours on your Nintendo NES playing Super Mario Brothers to the Noob that just bought a Nintendo DS and are Training your brain, Nintendo’s summer line has something for you.

If you are one of the few fortunate ones to have scored a Nintendo Wii there are games like Metroid Prime 3 Corruption and Mario Strikers Charged. Nintendo DS owners can challenge their minds with games like Brain Age 2: More Training in Minutes a Day and the new picture-based puzzle game, Picross DS.

Wii
July 30 Mario Strikers Charged Nintendo
Aug. 20 Metroid Prime 3 Corruption Nintendo
September Battalion Wars 2 Nintendo
Aug. 14 High School Musical: Sing It! Disney Interactive Studios
Aug. 14 Madden NFL ‘08 EA
August Tiger Woods PGA Tour ‘08 EA
August Space Station Tycoon Namco Bandai
August Brunswick Pro Bowling Crave
August Dave Mirra BMX Challenge Crave
August Pinball Hall of Fame: The Williams Collection Crave
September Brothers in Arms Ubisoft
September Looney Tunes: Acme Arsenal Warner Bros.
September George of the Jungle Crave
Fall Boogie EA

Nintendo DS
July 30 Picross DS Nintendo
Aug. 20 Brain Age 2: More Training in Minutes a Day Nintendo
Sept. 10 DK Jungle Climber Nintendo
Sept. 24 Chibi-Robo: Park Patrol Nintendo
July SimCity EA
July Namco Museum DS Namco Bandai
July Drake & Josh THQ
July Glory Days 2 Eidos
Aug. 14 Madden NFL ‘08 EA
Aug. 14 High School Musical: Makin’ the Cut! Disney Interactive Studios
Aug. 14 Heroes of Mana Square-Enix
August I SPY: Fun House Activision
August Jewel Quest Expedition Activision
August Tiger Woods PGA Tour ‘08 EA
August Worms: Open Warfare 2 THQ
August Luminous Arc Atlus
August Mega Man Star Force: Pegasus Capcom
August Mega Man Star Force: Leo Capcom
August Mega Man Star Force: Dragon Capcom
August Operation: Vietnam Majesco
August Turn It Around Majesco
August The Wild West Majesco
August Fulllmetal Alchemist Trading Card Game Destineer
September Drawn to Life THQ
September Zoey 101 THQ
September Crayola Teasure Adventures Crave
September Nancy Drew and The Deadly Secret of Olde World Park Majesco
September Holly Hobbie & Friends Majesco
September Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trials and Tribulations Capcom
September Looney Tunes: Duck Amuck Warner Bros.
September Pet Luv Spa & Resort Tycoon Activision
September Animal Genius Activision
September George of the Jungle Crave
September Jam Sessions Ubisoft
September Professor Brainium Destineer
September Indy 500 Legends Destineer

For more information about Nintendo, visit Nintendo.com.

The three new classic games go live at 9 a.m. Pacific time. Nintendo adds new games to the channel every Monday. Wii owners with a high-speed Internet connection can redeem Wii Points™ to download the games. Wii Points can be purchased in the Wii Shop Channel or at retail outlets. This week’s new games are:

Donkey Kong Country 2™: Diddy’s Kong Quest™ (SNES®, 1-2 players, 800 Wii Points): In the sequel to the immensely popular Donkey Kong Country™, Diddy Kong® gets the spotlight, along with his girlfriend, Dixie Kong™ - a great little monkey with a dangerous ponytail. The action starts on the wreck of King K. Rool’s Gangplank Galleon that has apparently broken up on a reef offshore from the Kremlings’ Island. Diddy and his friends will have to work together to rescue Donkey Kong®, exploring all the hidden areas of the Kremlings’ island: a spooky haunted forest, treacherous swamps, a giant beehive oozing with sticky honey and lava-filled caves, just to name a few.

Streets of Rage™ 2 (Sega Genesis, 1-2 players, 800 Wii Points): To celebrate their defeat of the Syndicate exactly one year before, Blaze, Adam and Axel met for drinks. The next morning, Axel received a frantic phone call from Eddie “Skate” Hunter, Adam’s younger brother, whom he was living with on the edge of the city. Blaze and Axel found Adam and Skate’s house wrecked, and a picture showing Adam chained up at the feet of Mr. X. The city then once again returned to its nightmarish state as criminals ran rampant. Unable to contact their old friend in artillery, Axel and Blaze team up with Skate and Max Thunder to free the city and rescue Adam from the Syndicate. It is up to you to take down Mr. X once and for all.

Blazing Lazers (TurboGrafx16, 1 player, 600 Wii Points): Blazing Lazers is a vertical-scrolling shooter that was praised for surpassing the limitations of the hardware of its time. Players control the extraordinary firepower of their Gunhed Star Fighter to take on the Dark Squadron that has begun its invasion of Earth. Collect power-ups to increase your ship’s battle strength so it can cut through enemies and defeat the bosses in all nine areas. Of course, as part of the “Soldier” series, the game contains a good combination of fast-paced speed with catchy, drum-propelled background music, coupled with the Field Thunder that can be used to destroy enemies in one fell swoop for the ultimate sense of satisfaction. With its fine-tuned difficulty levels, Blazing Lazers is a shooting game that anyone can enjoy.

For more information visit Wii.com

Via Press Release